OEM versions of Win98 don't need a key if you don't already have an ISO. I recommend MS Word or Office. I also recommend some good games from REMOVED They have both good Windows games and DOS games. https://www.dosgames.com/ also has some good DOS games. You can go to REMOVED for a lot of good Windows 98 software. For some fun stuff, you can surf to http://www.xrx.ca/ for some startup screens, wallpaperscraft.com for a lot of good wallpapers and https://archive.org/details/windowsdesktopthemes for some themes. If you want, I have some wallpaper and startup screens of some old Commodore 64 and NES games online.

If that system has a GeForce 3 Ti 200, you'll want DirectX 8.1 to take advantage of the card's pixel shaders. In fact, I'd be surprised if the drivers for the GeForce 3 even work without DX8, to be honest. NUSB 3.6 is a sanity-saver for transferring files to a retro PC like this, and I'd recommend grabbing 3DMark 99, 2000, and 2001 from Phil's site to do testing/show off the fancy hardware.

There is this as well. Generic Win98SE Installation & Setup Guide

psaez wrote on 2024-04-11, 20:59:

- MS Windows Security Update CD February 2004 (https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fil … &menustate=50,0)
- DirectX 7.0a? (why not 9?)

Updates/service packs are usually not that useful on retro gaming machines — if anything, they might actually bring some issues. Removing IE is usually done for performance benefits (no Active Desktop, etc), but you have a fairly powerful machine, so also not worth it IMO

I don't think you need to use older DX — it's not like you'll get compatibility issues with DX7 titles if you install DX9. You GF3 is a DX8 card, actually.

I have a problem, after installing VIA 4in1 Chipset Driver downloaded from https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/dfi-ca64-tc#driver it request a reboot. After restarting, it detects USB port and tries to install drivers, then, it crashes and windows 95 install gets corrupted, damaging SHELL32.DLL and preventing windows to start, simply showing the error that the file is corrupted and that windows can't start and must be reinstalled.

Any ideas about how to solve this?

EDIT: sorry the issue was with windows95 I forgot that this topic was based on windows 98

the best win98se build is called windows me. fans just like to deny this and make 'service packs' to just paste me's goodness in and credit themselves for the great things me does while they gaslight me for being a chronic bsoder because apparently everyone wants to vxd it up to death

psaez wrote on 2024-04-11, 20:59:

- Essential software to install

For me essintial software is usually Windows Commander/Total Commander, IrfanView and Fraps. Maybe Daemon Tools. Depends on what do yo plan to use the PC for.

psaez wrote on 2024-04-11, 20:59:

PD: I have a problem, after installing VIA 4in1 Chipset Driver downloaded from https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/dfi-ca64-tc#driver it request a reboot. After restarting, it detects USB port and tries to install drivers, then, it crashes and windows 95 install gets corrupted, damaging SHELL32.DLL and preventing windows to start, simply showing the error that the file is corrupted and that windows can't start and must be reinstalled.

Any ideas about how to solve this?

First thing I'd try is to backup of SHELL32.DLL before I install the driver than try to boot from a floppy and overwrite the corrupted one with the backup and see what happens.

One recommendation is to get comfy with using SCANREG to create backups of the registry. They are stored with incrementing filenames in C:\Windows\SYSBACKUP. Every time you make a successful change to your system (e.g. drivers installed, patches installed, .NET installed, DirectX installed, etc.), make a backup and rename it with a comment so you have a good "checkpoint" to roll back to if you later break something.

On the same note, use msconfig to enable the boot menu and put a 5 or 10 second countdown on it, so you can easily access the command prompt or safe mode during boot.

psaez wrote on 2024-04-11, 20:59:

- SD to IDE adapter (or sata to IDE adapter)

I'd use an IDE to Ultra ATA 100 or 133 PCI card adapter with an 80-conductor cable. It will likely be faster than the onboard ATA port and ATA was the most common protocol and drive type most people used with 98. CF cards work fine with 98, but with a 1.4 GHz P3-S, you'll get better performance using a real disk. I'd avoid SD cards as they're usually even slower than CF and are better suited for DOS and not 9x.

You could also use a PCI to SATA card but it's less period correct if that matters to you, and you'd need one that has 9x drivers and most were made for NT. You could also use an ATA to SATA adapter (use the red Startech adapter) to use a SATA drive or SSD if you want, it has the benefit of not needing any drivers since the host will see it as regular ATA.

leileilol wrote on 2024-04-13, 03:23:

the best win98se build is called windows me. fans just like to deny this and make 'service packs' to just paste me's goodness in and credit themselves for the great things me does while they gaslight me for being a chronic bsoder because apparently everyone wants to vxd it up to death

I really enjoyed reading this 🤣

FYI depending on your motherboard slots and your BIOS, it is technically possible to have both the Nvidia and the Voodoo cards installed. In Win98 you can have "hardware profiles" - I have two of these configured, one for the Voodoo and one for the Nvidia. The Nvidia is an AGP card and the Voodoo is PCI. What I do, is in BIOS, I can't remember specifically but essentially I decide to boot using the PCI or AGP GPU. Then, during boot, Win98 will prompt me which hardware profile to use. I select the corresponding profile and then play the relevant games when booted into that specific environment.

It's a pain to set up but now that I have it I wouldn't change it for anything. It really gives me a ton of flexibility.

cloverskull wrote on 2024-04-13, 07:28:

FYI depending on your motherboard slots and your BIOS, it is technically possible to have both the Nvidia and the Voodoo cards installed. In Win98 you can have "hardware profiles" - I have two of these configured, one for the Voodoo and one for the Nvidia. The Nvidia is an AGP card and the Voodoo is PCI. What I do, is in BIOS, I can't remember specifically but essentially I decide to boot using the PCI or AGP GPU. Then, during boot, Win98 will prompt me which hardware profile to use. I select the corresponding profile and then play the relevant games when booted into that specific environment.

It's a pain to set up but now that I have it I wouldn't change it for anything. It really gives me a ton of flexibility.

Can you explain, how to setup profile 1 and 2 for Win9x, so it asks it @ boot, thank you.

Sure! Here's some copypasta that seems right from my memory but it has been some time since I set this up. The source is here: https://jeffpar.github.io/kbarchive/kb/236/Q236963/

For Windows 98 -------------- […]
Show full quote

For Windows 98
--------------

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2. On the Hardware Profiles tab, click the Original Configuration profile, and
then click Copy.

3. You are prompted to type a name for the copied profile. Type a name that
easily identifies the profile (for example, Network Disabled), and then click
OK.

4. After you create the profile, you must configure your devices for that
profile. Restart your computer and choose the hardware profile that you want
to edit. In this example, click the Network Disabled hardware profile. After
you choose the hardware profile, you are logged in normally.

5. Right-click My Computer, and the click the Device Manager tab.

6. On the Device Manager tab, you can select a hardware component. In this
example, click to select a network adapter, and then click Properties.

7. A dialog box is displayed, and you can choose one of the following options:

- Disable in this hardware profile

- Exists in all hardware profiles

NOTE: In Windows 98, the second option is always selected for network adapters.
To delete the network adapter from this hardware profile, clear the "Exists in
all hardware profiles" option, and then click to select the "Disable in this
hardware profile" option. This action renders the network adapter unusable when
Windows 98 is started into this profile.